A few concert questions

[ltcf]

I'm not as obsessed and knowledgeable as you all, but I still consider myself a big U2 fan. I saw them live for the first time ever in SLC on Saturday night. The night was just magical. The highlight for me was Sunday Bloody Sunday and the finale of Yahweh and 40. I was really hoping for Bad, but as a religious person, the ending with Yahweh and 40 was very meaningful.

A few questions.

1. When Bono talks about his dad before SYCMIOYO and then during the song, they show the figure of a walking man on the lights behind the set--is this supposed to represent his father? And towards the end when Bono walks along the ellipse at the same pace in the same manner as the figure in the lights, is this supposed to be a representation of him walking along with his father? That's how I interpreted it and it was very touching.

2. At the end of Yahweh when he mixes the words, does he say take this heart and give it faith ? If so, all I can say is freakin' brilliant! I love that song and posted my analysis of the lyrics in the It's a Musical Journey section recently (wasn't allowed to post a link or I would have). I love the last line take this heart and make it break, but I also love the change to give it faith (if that's actually what he said) because it preserves the meaning and removes the possibility of misinterpretation by the casual fan.

3. The accoustics in Delta Center were not made for concerts and I could only make out part of the introduction to Miss Sarajevo. Can someone explain what the point of the beauty pageant in Sarajevo was? It was a comedy? Or it was a show of strength? Or a means to make the city of Sarajevo more human to the attackers so they would stop bombing? Didn't quite get it...

Thank you.

 

[mcranston]

1. Well, Bono never explicitly says "that's my father up there", but it is certainly implied and I think we are supposed to think so. But as far as Bono acting as if he is walking with his father, he may have done that at your particular show ... but I don't recall seeing that.

2. He changes the end lyrics of Yahweh each show it seems. Sometimes he says "Take this heart, this city's heart, and keep it safe" or "Take his heart, this city's heart, don't let it break", "Take this heart, my heart, don't let me break". So it is certainly possible he changed the lyrics for your show.

3. Miss Sarajevo was written in 1995 (I believe) with Pavarrati. It is literally talking about a beauty pageant. Sarajevo was the centre of the genocide and war in Yugoslavia during the early 1990s. The band was very active in bringing awareness to this problem, especially during the ZooTV show.

The Sarajevo beauty pageant was held during the genocide (ironically enough). And the contestants held a sign saying "Dont let them kill us". It was a remarkable show of protest, especially considering they held it in a war zone.

Miss Sarajevo takes literal elements from that beauty pageant and symbolic. ("Is there time to be a beauty queen ... "Is there time to turn to Mecca? A time for East 17?"). Bono changes the lyrics during this tour to apply more to equal rights. But the theme of the song is the same.

 

[strwar718]

1. good interpretation.. i think its just someone walking kind of like in the music video.

2. not sure

3. he was saying how in the middle of the war and all the oppression, they still had a beauty pageant. that was the main point...

 

[popacrobat]

1- its bono walking around on the light curtain.

2- he changes it up and says take this cities heart and keep it safe often, but has said different things

3-he has different speeches for that but pretty much just saying how the city was a capital of coexist which is why it was a target and they wrote a song about a beautiful woman who started a beauty pagent and they came out with their lipsticks and held a sign that said "do you really want to kill us" etc etc and they wrote the song for her, ehre it is, miss sarajevo

 

[JCOSTER]

1. I think its representative of his dad walking.

2. I have heard Bono say take this city and keep it safe. This
was during the Oct 7th show at MSG, during a terrorist threat.
And then thanked all the fans for coming during the threat.

3. Ditto as per Mcranston. Try and look at the video on the
best of it will help u understand it better.

 

[jcarroll28]

As far as Bono walking along the ellipse, yes, I got the same perspective that he was walking along side the figure on the light curtain (Buffalo show).

In Dublin, Bono went out to the B-stage and turned and seemed to sing to the light curtain figure for certain lines (esp. "you're the reason why the opera is in me...").

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

i always thought the walking man looked like the aol guy

 

[got2k9s]

i always thought the walking man looked like the aol guy

ROFL! Me too!!

But seriously - - at one of the shows I attended, I noticed that at the end of "Sometimes," the guy on the screen just, slowly walks off the screen and disappears.

THAT made me cry. I saw the image as a representation of Bono's father.

As far as the ending lyrics to Yahweh, at most if not all of the shows I went to this year, I heard Bono sing, " . . . take this heart, take this city's heart, take this city's heart and keep it safe."

 

[popacrobat]

im pretty sure that i read on one of willie williams diary thingies that the guy walking was bono walking alone or something.